


Causality

by Eggling



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Gen, basically an episode fic, not endorsed by the narrative or anything but it's in there, some discussion of scifi colonialism/zoe having some not great views because of her background
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:34:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23559943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eggling/pseuds/Eggling
Summary: The Interplanetary Museum of Terran Imperial Achievement - the largest collection of human-related material anywhere in the universe, and testament to some of humanity's worst crimes.August 10th, 3092- the Doctor, Jamie, Ben, and Polly visit the museum to see the wonders of human history.August 10th, 3092- the Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe visit the museum to take back something that has been stolen.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> on [tumblr](https://the--highlanders.tumblr.com/post/614923318824468480/causality-chapter-1-eggling-doctor-who).

**_August 10th, 3092, 11:24_ **

-

“The Interplanetary Museum of Terran Imperial Achievement,” the Doctor announced, gesturing towards the grand building before them. Twin sandstone towers brushed the low-lying clouds above, and the great doorway between them was all but obscured by a thronging crowd, humans and aliens all pushing their way inside. “The largest collection of human-related material – well, anywhere.”

Polly stared dubiously up at the building. “Are you sure we’ve landed in the right place, Doctor? This looks just like the Natural History Museum in London.” Her face lit up. “Maybe we’re home, Ben!”

The Doctor looked affronted by her suggestion. “I’m quite sure of where we’ve landed. It was – ah – specially built to replicate the museum in London.”

“But doesn’t it look like home?” Polly insisted, tugging on Ben’s arm. “Everything’s the same.”

“Don’t think so, duchess.” Ben nodded towards a passer-by, so engrossed in their guidebook that they almost bumped into them. As they watched, one of the thick, fleshy tendrils that formed their ponytail reached over their shoulder to turn a page. “We don’t get birds like that in London. Not in our time, anyway.”

“That settles it, then.” The Doctor skipped away towards the museum. “Come along, come along! There’s so much to see.”

-

**_August 10th, 3092, 11:29_ **

-

“The Interplanetary Museum of Terran Imperial Achievement,” the Doctor murmured, nodding towards the small, battered door before them. “Testament to some of the worst crimes humanity has ever committed.”

Jamie frowned. “Doesnae look how I remember it.” The service road they had landed beside was clogged with leaves, its edges scattered with debris and empty boxes. The sandstone front of the building he had seen years before was barely visible, with only a few hints of decoration creeping around the side of the building, lending its grandeur the sense of an empty facade.

“Well, we’re hardly going to walk through the front doors and ask to steal from them,” the Doctor replied. “The supply door seemed more prudent.”

“I still don’t understand what we’re doing here,” Zoe said. “What’s wrong with the staff staying in the museum?”

“Well, it belongs to Tara’s people, Zoe,” the Doctor said. “And we did promise her that we’d get it back.”

“Isn’t it safer in the museum?”

The Doctor gave her a mischievous grin. “Not while we’re here.”

“And what about the research potential -”

“It’s important tae Tara’s people,” Jamie interrupted. “They’re no’ interested in your research potential.” He glanced over his shoulder anxiously. “Shouldn’t we be goin’?”

“Then they shouldn’t have given it away in the first place,” Zoe argued.

The Doctor sighed. “You see, Zoe, I’m not so sure they _did_ give it away.”


	2. Chapter 1

-

**_August 10th, 3092, 11:32 am_ **

-

The Doctor peered down at the battered map in his hands, smoothing out the crinkled edges. “This ought to be the right entrance.”

“Isn’t that a map for tourists?” Zoe asked sceptically.

“Yes, I – ah – saved it, after we visited last time.” The Doctor spoke airily, as if he had not heard the doubt in Zoe’s voice. He pushed the door open, staring out into the darkness within and leaving the others to peer over his shoulder.

Jamie shrugged. “Seems empty enough.” He made as if to push forward and step over the threshold, but the Doctor held him back.

“Careful,” he murmured, nodding at an indistinct shape on the far wall and fishing his screwdriver out of his pocket. “All the entrances to this museum are monitored by heat sensors. Walking in like that would announce our arrival.” He held up the screwdriver, clearly intent on destroying the sensor.

“Won’t putting their security system out of action set off more alarms?” Zoe put in. She tapped at a calendar attached to the door. “It says here that they’re expecting a maintenance team in a quarter of an hour. A few more heat signatures might go undetected, at least for a while.”

The Doctor harrumphed, tucking his screwdriver back into his pocket with an air of disappointment, as if he had been looking forward to sending the camera into a shower of fireworks. “You’re quite right, of course, Zoe.” He stepped inside gingerly, as if expecting alarms to start blaring through the building the moment he touched the floor. “Come along, come along. We have a great deal of searching to do, you know.”

Jamie followed him hurriedly, but Zoe remained on the doorstep, hesitating. “It just doesn’t feel right,” she protested. “I don’t like the idea of stealing from a museum.”

“Oh, Zoe, now is hardly the time for ethical misgivings -”

“I mean it.” Zoe folded her arms across her chest. “I don’t think we should be doing this.”

“Zoe.” The sternness of the Doctor’s tone clearly startled her, making her take a step backwards. “We promised Tara that we would return the staff to her. You may wait in the TARDIS if you wish, but I will not allow you to put our efforts – and us – at risk.”

“Fine,” Zoe muttered. “I suppose I can at least stop you two from getting in too much trouble.”

“Splendid.” The Doctor set off into the corridors, squinting down at his map. “Now, remember, we’re looking for a label that says ‘Xi’aani Staff’ on it.” He paused at a split in the corridor, turning the map from side to side before picking the left passage seemingly at random.

Jamie cast his gaze along the wall panels as they wound their way deeper into the museum, squinting at them through the semi-darkness. A few of the names seemed familiar, and he wondered how many of the people they had met in their travels had lost treasures to the museum. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that Zoe was trailing some distance behind them, and he dropped back to join her. “What are these cases, anyway?”

“They’re for items of particular interest,” Zoe explained. Just as he had thought, the opportunity to show off her knowledge perked her right up. “It’s for easy access by researchers and the public. The other items are kept in environmentally-controlled storerooms, for conservation.” She looked around them, her expression one of wonder despite her still-folded arms. “They started planning for a museum like this in my time.”

“Oh.” Zoe was hardly paying attention to him anymore, starting to look over the labels with interest rather than pointedly ignoring them. “Hey, Zoe, why do ye not think we should -”

“Shush, you two,” the Doctor hissed, flapping his hands at them urgently. “I think I can hear someone behind the wall. Perhaps they’ll help us figure out where we are.”

“ _Come and look at this!_ ” a muffled voice exclaimed. “ _Sixties things!_ ”

The Doctor shook his head, opening his map again. He frowned down at it, then folded it into a different configuration, shaking his head. “Dear, me – we’re on the wrong floor. We’ll have to find a service lift. Come along, come along.”

-

**_August 10th, 3092, 11:45_ **

-

“Come and look at this!” Polly jogged up the stairs, pointing excitedly towards a large case. “Sixties things!”  
“Your own time?” Jamie followed her towards the case, frowning. “Why do ye want tae look at something ye already know about?”

“This is the year three-thousand and ninety-two, Jamie,” Polly pointed out. “I want to see how they remember us.” She beamed at the sight of a brightly-coloured sleeve of cardboard. “Look, a Beatles album!” Her smile faded as she glanced down the row of items. “It’s funny, isn’t it? Seeing our lives in a museum case.”

“Hey, look,” Ben called. “This says it’s a video of the first man walking on the moon.”

“The moon?” Polly hurried over. “When?”

“Nineteen-sixty-nine. Hey, if we watch it now, we won’t have to bother tuning in when it happens.” The screen flickered back into life, revealing grainy footage of a man in a bulky, cumbersome space suit. The figure seemed almost as alien as anything Jamie had seen on other plants, and he found himself transfixed by the video, watching the man take his slow, measured footsteps. “That’s what you needed, Jamie. Might’ve stopped you knocking yourself out.”

“That wasnae my fault,” Jamie protested. “Anyway, it saved me from the Cybermen, didn’t it?”

Polly shuddered. “Don’t remind me. Where should we go next?”

“Do they have anything from my time?” Jamie asked.

Scanning the map, Polly shook her head. “No, they don’t have anything before the mid-twentieth century. Probably for the best,” she added. “It’s a bit unnerving, really. I almost wish I hadn’t looked.”

“’Spose I’m just too primitive for this place.” Jamie glanced around them. “Hey, where’s the Doctor? I thought he was just behind us.”

“Off looking at the spaceships, probably,” Ben said. “He’ll find us eventually.”

-

**_August 10th, 3092, 11:47 am_ **

-

“Ah, this will do.” The Doctor pressed his palm against a wall panel seemingly at random, casting furtive glances either way along the corridor. To Jamie’s surprise, a small square of the previously blank wall lit up, casting a blue light over the darkened corridor. The Doctor winced, trying to cover the newly emerged buttons with his hand. “Now, we want to go -” He consulted his map again, then pressed one of the buttons. “Up.” Barely a moment later, another wall panel split open, revealing a small compartment. “Ah – after you, Jamie, Zoe.”  
Jamie stepped inside dubiously, inspecting the corners of the lift for more security cameras. The inside was more spacious than it had first appeared, its walls lined with mirrors, and he was glad of it, though he still clutched tightly at the railing. “Why would they hide a lift?” he asked. “Don’t the people who work here ever get lost?”

“Oh, certainly,” the Doctor said absently. “But I’m sure they believe the added security is worth it, and they’re not too hard to find if you know what you’re looking for.” The doors slid closed behind them, but the Doctor did not select a floor from the panel on the wall, still absorbed in turning the map from one side to another.

“Come on, Doctor,” Jamie urged him. “Ye found it before we left the TARDIS, can ye not remember where it is?”

“I’m trying,” the Doctor protested. “It’s quite difficult, you know – doing things from the back.” Zoe rolled her eyes. “ _Zoe!_ ”

“I dinnae want tae be cooped up in here. Can’t we just pick a floor?”

“Level three, I think.” The Doctor flapped his hands towards Jamie, who sighed and pressed the button, shifting his weight from one foot to the other impatiently. “I dare say I’ll have a more precise location in a minute.” The large mirrors were beginning to do little to make the space feel larger, the dim lighting pressing the walls in around them. Jamie slammed a likely-looking button the moment the lift came to a halt, trying to get the doors to open faster. “Just a moment, Jamie, I’m still trying to -”

“Doctor.” Jamie glanced over his shoulder to give him a strained smile. “We don’t have a moment.”

“Of course we do.”

“We don’t.” Stepping back, Jamie ducked away from the bristling array of laser guns being pointed at him by the security squad standing before the lift. “Hey, there’s no need for that. We’re not going tae give ye any trouble.”

“Of course we’re not,” the Doctor said soothingly, pushing his way forward to stand in front of Jamie. “We’re – ah – here on a research permit, you know.”

One of the guards tilted his head to one side, shoving his arm against the door to stop it closing. The mask that covered his face did little to hide his scorn. “In a maintenance lift?”

“Oh.” The Doctor craned his neck to look up and down the corridor outside. “Oh, is that where we are – we wanted to speak to the curator of the fourth galactic segment items, you see, but we’re a little lost.”

“I can see that,” the guard said. “You’re in the early space age Earth section.”

“ _Oh!_ How unfortunate.” The Doctor shuffled his way out of the lift, his hands held carefully high and his eyes darting between the guards’ guns. “You couldn’t direct us to the curator’s office, could you?”

“Certainly.” The guard’s smile was polite, but concealed a smug shard of iciness. “I’m sure he’ll be _very_ interested in speaking with you.”

Tensing, Jamie glanced between the guards and the still-open lift as they shuffled away. If he timed it right – he would need to act quickly to get all three of them in there and close the doors, but surely it was manageable – maybe Zoe could help him, if he could quickly mime to her what he was about to do. But the Doctor put his hand on his arm, holding him in place, and the brief window of opportunity vanished.

“Not now,” he murmured. “They’re going to take us in the right direction. Let’s at least let them get us close to the staff, hm?”

“Och, fine,” Jamie whispered back. “But they’re onto us now. How are we gonnae get the staff out with them in the section too?”

“Oh, I’m sure I’ll think of something,” the Doctor said. He turned to Zoe instead, tapping her shoulder. “I do hope you’re remembering the route, Zoe.”

She raised her eyebrows at him, almost offended that he had bothered to ask. “Of course. But I don’t see why we can’t talk to the curator. He’s probably perfectly reasonable -” Jamie snorted, and she glared at him. “If the staff really doesn’t belong here, surely he’ll give it back. There’s no need to go sneaking around like this.”

The Doctor opened his mouth to argue, but Jamie beat him to it. “He won’t. They’re like English people, see, always wreckin’ what’s not theirs.”

“I know people like him,” Zoe insisted. “I’ve worked with them – I was _taught_ by them. It’s not as if they’re evil. I’m sure I could talk him into giving us the staff, if it’s the right thing to do.”

“I’m, ah, afraid Jamie’s right, Zoe,” the Doctor said sadly. “I don’t believe he’ll let us -” He fell silent, staring at up at the sign on the archway above them. “Fourth galactic segment! This is where we want to be. Now, Jamie, hurry -”

The urgency of his words sent a thrill of anticipation down Jamie’s spine, and he craned his neck to see past the guards, the vast emptiness of the corridors suddenly infuriating. The seconds ticked away achingly slowly, and they ambled past door after locked door. Only when they turned a corner did Jamie’s heart leap at the sight of an open door, and beyond a dark corridor. He clenched and unclenched his fists, half-hunching over in readiness. For a moment Zoe looked as if she might make a grab for him and pull him away, but he sprung into action ahead of her, shoving the two guards in front of him through the door. They stumbled and slipped on the polished floors, crashing to the ground. The third reached for his gun, but the Doctor dragged him backwards, letting Jamie dodge away and push him after his companions, slamming the door shut and listening for the satisfying click of a lock.

Breathing heavily, his heart pounding, Jamie slumped against the door, turning to grin at the others. “That wasnae too hard. Where’s this staff, then?” The Doctor and Zoe did not reply, instead staring dubiously up at the door. “What’s wrong?”

“We’ve locked them inside the curator’s suite,” the Doctor said quietly. “He’ll have the whole museum on high alert in minutes.” He wrung his hands together. “That – ah – that didn’t quite go to plan, did it?”

Jamie touched his shoulder, making him look up with wide eyes. “We’d better find the staff then. Quickly. Did ye ever figure out which way it was?”

“Yes, I think – down here.” The Doctor darted off down a corridor, almost as if at random, scanning the cases hurriedly as he went. Lights turned on in their wake, though whether for their benefit or the guards’ Jamie could not say. “No – no, no, we’re not quite at ‘X’ yet – here!” Skidding to a halt, the Doctor whipped his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and began to unscrew the latches on one of the cases. The screwdriver slipped out of his unsteady hands, clattering to the floor. “Oh – oh, butterfingers. Fiddlesticks.”

“ _High security alert._ ” A detached, robotic voice echoed along the corridor. “ _All research cabinets are now on lockdown. Visitors are advised that there is no cause for alarm._ ”

Zoe snatched the screwdriver from the floor before the Doctor could, holding it away from him. “You’ll set off the alarms,” she begged. “Please, Doctor, can’t we just talk to them about it?”

“They said visitors had no cause for alarm,” the Doctor said cheerfully, plucking the screwdriver out of her hand and moving onto the next latch. “We’re visitors.” Zoe made a grab for him instead, struggling to pull him away from the case, but he dug his heels in against her, holding himself still with surprising strength. “Now, careful, Zoe, don’t let it hit you – ah. Here.” He prised the case’s backing away from the wall and reached out to the staff inside, hovering his hand over it. “Rather beautiful, isn’t it?” The other side of the case was walled with glass, and he scanned the room beyond with an air of satisfaction. “No witnesses. Perfect.”

“Doctor, _please_ -”

His hand closed around the staff, and at once a cacophony of alarms screeched and whirred into life. “Ah. I think we’d better run, don’t you?” Lifting the staff out of its stand, he took off down the corridor, grabbing for Jamie’s hand to pull him along. Jamie fumbled for Zoe in turn, managing to get a hold of the sleeve of her jumpsuit and dragging her out of her transfixed shock. “Zoe, you know the way out,” the Doctor called over his shoulder to her. “Hadn’t you better lead?”

Zoe skidded to a halt, staring up at the ceiling as if lost in thought for a moment, then shoved open a door and dashed down the set of stairs beyond. “Just admit it,” she snapped. “You’re only doing this because you have a – an insatiable need for heroics.”

“I do _not!_ ” the Doctor exclaimed. The staff caught in the mesh of the stair railing, dragging him to a halt. “Oh, this wretched -” He tugged at it once, twice, three times. “Oh, just run! Don’t wait for me.” Jamie hesitated, starting to climb back up towards him. “Go!”

“Out here,” Zoe was saying. “Come on, Jamie, there’s no use in all of us getting caught -” She slammed into the door shoulder-first, hurtled into the corridor, and made as if to sprint off in another direction, but paused when she saw that Jamie had stopped.

“How’s he going tae find his way out on his own?”

“He’s the Doctor, he’ll manage – oh, Jamie, quickly!” A part of guards was heading around the corner towards him, and Jamie forced himself to run, glancing back over his shoulder with every step, waiting for the Doctor to burst through the door after them.

“What are they gonnae do to him?”

“They won’t hurt him,” Zoe said. “They’ll just take the staff and that’ll be the end of it”

The guards were pounding on the door that they had left to slam closed behind them, and Jamie paused, wincing with every shout. “I wish I could believe that.”

-

**_August 10th, 3092, 12:09_ **

-

“Ah, you were in the sixties section. I might have guessed.”  
“Doctor!” Polly rushed towards him, her eyes wide with fright. “What’s happening?”

“Yeah, I thought we were having a peaceful day out,” Ben put in. “Should’ve known something would go wrong.”

The Doctor gave them a look that might have been innocent had he not been almost bouncing with excitement. “This is nothing to do with me, I assure you. If I had to guess, I’d say something had been stolen.” He wandered away from them, humming tunelessly to himself and tapping idly at the walls.

“Oh.” Polly relaxed a little. “So it’s nothing to worry about?”

“Not at all. I expect they’ll catch the culprit soon enough.”

“Hey, I know that look,” Jamie said warningly. The Doctor paused in his searching to throw him a quizzical glance. “You’re gettin’ ideas, aren’t ye?”

“No, no, not at all,” the Doctor protested. “I’m just – ah, yes.” Crossing to an air vent, he pulled a screwdriver out of his pocket and set to work on the fastenings. “Yes, this should take us – behind the scenes, as it were.”

“ _Doctor._ ”

“I’m just curious to know what’s going on.” The metal grate clattered to the floor, setting off another round of alarms. “After you.”


	3. Chapter 2

-

**_August 10th, 3092, 12:22 pm_ **

-

“There.” Jamie rattled the grate a little, nodding to himself when it stayed in place. “They won’t find us in here.” Ducking away from the low ceiling, he glanced past Zoe, gazing out to where the reflections on the metal walls obscured the end of the passage. The air grew thick and cloying at the sight, and he tugged at his shirt collar anxiously. “This thing doesnae open up a wee bit, does it?”

“I don’t see why it should. These ducts weren’t exactly designed to accommodate humans.” Zoe was scowling, her arms folded across her chest. “I hope they catch the Doctor soon.”

“Ye _what_?” Jamie gaped at her. “Ye cannae be serious -”

“I am.”

“ _Why_?” She raised her eyebrows at him, her lips pursed with a confident superiority that made discomfort coil in the pit of his stomach. “Och, you’re still on about your – your research potential, aren’t ye?” Her expression dripped with a condescending sort of pity, as if he was a small child, but her eyes narrowed at the derision in his voice. “Look, Zoe, some things are better left alone, but this isnae one of them.”

“You don’t really believe that staff has magical powers, do you? I thought the Doctor had taught you better than that.”

“Ye think Tara and her people are savages, don’t ye?” Jamie sat back on his heels, looking Zoe up and down. She stared back at him, calmly defiant in the face of his mess of disbelief. “Just ‘cause they don’t follow your science. An’ ye think the same about me, ‘cause I come from your past.”

He cringed with regret even as he spoke, and from Zoe’s shocked expression, he knew he had hit a nerve. “No – Jamie, I didn’t mean -”

“Aye, ye did.” She winced, and he opened his mouth to apologise – forgive her for thinking so little of him – but the words stuck in his throat, and he settled for an awkward smile instead. “Anyway, I wasnae talking about the magic. Tara said the staff was taken after a battle, didn’t she?” Zoe nodded. “People like the ones here, at this museum – they take everything, after somethin’ like that. Pull ye apart and leave ye.”

Zoe bit her lip. “I’m sure the people here wouldn’t do that.” When she spoke, her voice was as steady as ever, but she fell into an uneasy silence.

Jamie reached over to pat her shoulder clumsily. “It doesnae matter, anyway,” he said, trying to sound comforting. “The Doctor’s probably made it out already.”

-

**_August 10th, 3092, 12:36 pm_ **

-

“Oh, dear.” The Doctor fumbled in his pocket, tugging his handkerchief out and waving it in front of his face. “I didn’t think the vents would be quite so – ah – _dusty_.”

“Where are we?” Polly asked. Jamie followed her gaze up to the tall cabinets surrounding them, squinting up at their labels. Even with his still-awkward reading skills, he could tell that he recognised none of the names. Gaps were cut into the tall, gleaming marble walls to form balconies at regular intervals, and he shivered, almost overcome with the prickling sensation of being watched intently from all sides.

“Storage, looks like,” Ben said. “Hey, Doctor, why are there no alarms down here?”

“Well, perhaps there are. But this isn’t just a storage room, it’s a study room. No need to disrupt everyone else by setting off a siren. Goodness me, look at this.” Pushing past Polly, the Doctor trotted down the aisle, leaving the rest of them to follow in his wake. “Yes, I thought so – the sacred crown jewels of Ioximpalus. How on earth did they get hold of those?”

“They’re fakes, maybe,” Jamie suggested.

“I reckon they stole them,” Ben put in.

“I’m rather inclined to agree with Ben,” the Doctor said, peering through the glass. “There’s no way of faking the shine from an Ioxi citrine stone – and they would hardly have given these away.” He reached out to pull the door of the cabinet open, but yelped and jumped away when his fingers made contact with the glass. “There must be an – ah – an electric circuit running through all of these cases.” He pouted, nursing his hand and glaring at the cabinet. “You’d need the right key to break it safely.”

“And if you don’t have a key -” The sound of yet another alarm screeching out from above them cut through Polly’s words. “I thought you said there weren’t any sirens here?”

“Well, not for new arrivals. Touching the cabinets must be a rather different story. When I say run – I think it would be pertinent to run, everyone.” Footsteps and shouts were already echoing all around them, and the Doctor froze, surveying the exits. “Ah. Perhaps not. I’d suggest -”

“Up here!” They turned to see Ben scaling a ladder that rested against one of the shelves. “I think we could just -” He reached up towards the top of the cabinet, but guards were pouring onto the balconies above them, and he shrank back, hurrying back down the ladder. Before he was even halfway down, one of the guards stuck their foot out between the metal bars, pushing on the ladder and sending it toppling towards the ground.

Polly dashed towards it, holding her arms out to steady Ben as he leapt down. “There must be some other way out,” she said, glancing helplessly towards the Doctor. “What are we going to do?”

‘”Ah – I’m afraid,” the Doctor began tentatively. “I’m afraid there may not be another way out, Polly.” Behind him, a second group of guards shoved another ladder to the ground, and he flinched at the clang of metal on the polished stone floors. “They seem to have us rather well surrounded.”

“So we’re trapped,” Jamie said grimly.

“It, ah, it does seem that way,” the Doctor said. “Unless there’s some kind of diversion -”

Even as he spoke, a hissing sound began to emanate from above them. Looking up, Jamie saw smoke drifting from grates in the ceiling as if the building was ablaze, and his heart leapt into his throat. But although the guards were coughing and spluttering as the thick haze settled over the room, the smell was too acrid and tangy to come from any sort of fire he recognised. His whole body felt strangely light, as if the smoke was thick enough to float in, and he was distantly aware of his eyes drifting closed.

The Doctor was pressing his handkerchief over his mouth, tugging on Jamie’s sleeve and jolting him out of his daze. “Quickly,” he hissed. “While they’re distracted.”

“We’ll suffocate,” Polly protested. Jamie took her hand and pulled her after the Doctor, and she stumbled along with him, her head falling forwards and her steps uncertain

Ben pulled his jacket off, holding the sleeve over Polly’s face despite her clumsy attempts to slap him away. “What’s happening, Doctor?”

“Some sort of fault in the vent system, I should imagine,” the Doctor said quietly. “Ah, this should do.” Shoving them into a side-room, he fiddled with a madly flashing panel of buttons on the wall. “There.”

“ _Doors closing_ ,” a smooth, cold voice said. “ _Ventilation system online_.”

“There we are.” Mopping at his brow with his handkerchief, the Doctor leant heavily against the wall. “Dear me. When I said we needed a diversion, I didn’t quite mean such a dangerous one.”

“What caused it, though?” Ben asked. “It can’t have been a coincidence. But who would want to help us?”

“Our escape may have been entirely coincidental,” the Doctor pointed out. “It may have been the thief trying to get away themselves.”

“What about the guards?” Jamie said. “Will they be alright.”

The Doctor nodded. “Their uniforms have built-in life-support systems. They’ll have switched on their personal air supplies by now. I suppose they’ll be wanting to flush us out and have the smoke do the dirty work of paralysing us. Not particularly good for the collection, though.”

“So we’re still trapped.”

The Doctor did not meet his eyes. “It – ah – it appears so.”

-

**_August 10th, 3092, 12:44_ **

-

“You know, Jamie, I’ve been thinking.”

Jamie sighed, letting his head fall down against his arms. “Zoe, if you’re still goin’ on about whether it’s right for us tae take the staff -”

“No, it’s not that. It’s this airlock.” Zoe paused in her crawling, tapping the wall of the vent. “Listen.”

Jamie shrugged. “I dinnae hear anything.”

“I think there’s a secondary vent system running parallel to this one,” Zoe pressed on. “The vent we’re in doesn’t seem to cover anything but this level. Maybe the other one will take us down to the ground floor so we can get out.”

Anything that could get them out of the vents more quickly seemed tempting, he admitted to himself. The cramped space had set his heart pounding, and he swallowed the urge to tell Zoe to do whatever she wanted. But they were lost as it was, and turning off onto another path could lead them further away from escape just as easily as it could lead them out. “Alright, if ye think so,” he said at last. “Ye do remember what way we’ve come, don’t ye?”

Throwing him a disdainful look over her shoulder, Zoe busied herself with opening the airlock. “Of course I do,” she said. “Three left turns, one right, straight on for another ten metres, around the corner, and we’d be back at the elevator.”

Aye, well, that’s alright then.” Zoe cast the vent door aside, and he startled at the plumes of white smoke that poured out of the now-open gap, hitting his head on the top of the vent. Coughing and spluttering, he crawled backwards to reach the cleaner air. “What was in there?”

“Fire extinguisher,” Zoe mumbled, pressing her jacket sleeve over her mouth. “If the building were to catch on fire, they’d flood it with this and asphyxiate it.”

“Oh, aye.”

“There’s some maintenance controls here – I should be able to -” A gust of air roared through the vent beside theirs, and she snatched her hand away. “Perhaps that was a little too much.”

Rubbing the back of his head ruefully, Jamie tried to wrap his head around what she was saying. “Why would they put a fire extinguisher in an air vent? What’s wrong with water?”

Zoe looked a little sheepish. “The gas is less valuable and easier to transport in space. We had the same system on the Wheel.” She slammed her palm against the bottom of their vent, screwing up her face. “I should have known what was in there!”

“Aye, ye almost extinguished us.”

“I didn’t mean to!” Zoe exclaimed. “I wasn’t expecting them to keep it immediately beside the air vents. Besides, it’s not too dangerous to humans in small doses.”

“I hope not.” Peering through the grate beside him, Jamie pointed down at the room below. “’Cause you’ve flooded whatever’s down there.”

Zoe shrugged. “It might cause a diversion. Throw them off the Doctor’s scent.”

“So ye don’t want them tae catch the Doctor anymore?” Zoe pointedly ignored him. “Och, nevermind. These vents aren’t gettin’ us anywhere. Is there a way down?”

“I’m not so sure now. Certainly not if we keep following this air duct, and probably nothing we could fit into, but I suppose I could...” She shuffled backwards, reaching out behind her. “Can I borrow your knife?” Bemused, Jamie handed it over to her, and she began to poke at the joins between the sheets of metal beneath her. “Ionic bonding,” she explained. “I doubt they expected anyone to try and break it by force, there ought to be a weak angle...”

Jamie grinned at her, and she huffed, hunching her shoulders to avoid his gaze. “Breakin’ things now, are we?” One panel snapped away from the rest with a resounding clunk, and she shoved it aside. “Och, why couldn’t we have gotten out of here like this before?”

“This is the first room we’ve passed where we’ve been close enough to the ground,” Zoe retorted. “And besides, I’ve only just thought of it.”

She made as if to scramble through the gap, but he caught her arm, stilling her. “Hey, what if there’s guards down there?”

“It looks empty. I think it’s the guard’s quarters.” Easing herself through the gap in the panels, she edged herself down until she was clinging onto the duct’s edge. She dropped down to the floor, letting out a soft huff at the impact, then looked back up towards Jamie. “Come on.”

Sighing, Jamie swung his legs into the gap in the duct and started to squeeze out after her, trying to copy the way she had shifted her weight to her arms as she moved away from the edge. The hole was not quite big enough for him to comfortably fit through, and he winced as the sharp edges of the metal panels scraped at his arms. By the time he had wriggled his way outside and dropped to the floor, she was already rifling through the cupboards, reaching inside to pull out several bundles and shove them towards him.

“Here,” she said brusquely, already reaching back into the cupboard for another set.

Jamie fumbled with the handfuls of black fabric for a moment, looking up at Zoe in dread when she realised what he had handed him. “No.”

Folding her arms, Zoe turned to glare determinedly at him. “Nobody will question us if they think we’re guards. We can go wherever we like.”

“Aye, until they figure out they don’t know who we are.”

“Do you have a better idea?”

“No, but -” Jamie shook out the offending item of clothing, holding it out delicately as if it were hot. “Och, you’re as bad as the Doctor.”

“It’s only a pair of trousers,” Zoe pointed out. “Be thankful it’s not a hat. Anyway, it’s this or being lost in the vents.”

Jamie stuck his tongue at her, but turned away to start unbuttoning his shirt. “’Spose I’d rather have this than the vents.” He nodded towards the door. “What’s happening out there?”

Smoke drifted into the room as Zoe opened the door a crack, and she flapped her hand as if to force it out again, her other arm pressed over her mouth to muffle her coughing. “They ought to have ventilated everything by now,” she mumbled. “I don’t understand why they’ve drained this one and not the collections room.”

“What’s _happenin’_ out there?”

She squinted through the smoke, opening the door a little wider so she could lean out. “There’s guards out there,” she said, hurriedly drawing back inside. “They’ve cornered someone in another side room over there, I can’t see in -”

“Hey, maybe it’s the Doctor -’

“If it is, he’s trapped, they’d catch him before he could get away -”

“Move over, let me see -”

-

**_August 10th, 3092, 12:52_ **

-

The Doctor paced across the room, one finger held to his lips in thought. Jamie watched him for a moment, then turned to face away from his infectious fidgeting. “What’re we gonnae do?” he asked instead. “There’s no way out of here.”

“Unless something else distracts them for us,” Polly put in hopefully.

“I, ah, don’t think the guards are our main problem,” the Doctor said.

Ben gaped at him. “We’re stuck in here! What’s a bigger problem than that?”

“The _real_ question,” the Doctor continued, “is where the thief is.” He paused in his pacing and turned to study Jamie, Ben, and Polly, his brow furrowed. “If you were the thief, where would you go?”

Jamie shrugged. “Out of the museum?”

“Well, yes, but _how_ would you escape -” The Doctor froze, staring out towards the door.

“What is it?” Jamie hissed, but the Doctor quickly shushed him.

“The thief?” Polly asked. “An accomplice? Or did someone else come in from the gallery?”

“Let’s go and have a look, shall we?”

A quiet murmuring was drifting into the room. Behind the frosted glass of the door, the guards were starting to break ranks, clearly having noticed whatever the Doctor had heard. “Hey, Doctor -” Jamie began, but the Doctor had already shoved the door open, slipped through the gap, and darted away.

Shouting and fumbling for their weapons, the guards followed, and Jamie, Ben, and Polly pressed themselves against the wall, exchanging tense glances. But the guards did not seem to notice their shadows through the glass, and as their footsteps faded away, Jamie forced himself to creep towards the door. When he pushed it open, he half-expected to see the Doctor, having lead the guards on a merry dance and now back to whisk them away to safety. But he saw only smoke and a few guards poking around the shelves in vain.

“I think he got away,” he whispered to Polly.

“Maybe he did,” Polly said grimly. “But how do we get out?”


	4. Chapter 3

-

**_August 10th, 3092, 12:57_ **

-

A dark, indistinct shape rushed past them through the smoke, making Zoe flinch away from the door. “I think that was the Doctor!” she hissed to Jamie. “We should follow him -” A group of guards thundered past after him, and she leapt back, pressing herself against the door’s wood panels to hide her shadow. A tingle ran through Jamie’s spine at the sight, filling him with the uneasy sense that he had seen all this before somehow, though the girl beside him had not been Zoe. “They’re gone,” she was saying, though he was only half-listening. “Come on, let’s go.”

“No!” Jamie shoved himself in front of the door, slamming it closed just as Zoe tried to pull it further open. “We cannae go after him. That’s not our Doctor.”

Zoe frowned up at him, still tugging on the door. “What do you mean, it’s not our Doctor?”

“It’s taken me a wee while tae work it out, see.” Jamie found himself pacing up and down the room, gesturing wildly in his agitation. A wrench of regret struck him at having left the door, but Zoe was standing quite still, watching him with her arms folded. “But – I dinnae think it’s just that the Doctor and I came here before. I think it’s the same day.”

The look of disbelief on Zoe’s face only grew more obvious. “Then why did it take you so long to figure it out?”

Jamie shrugged. “’Spose the Doctor would say I’m affecting my own memories. It’s like I’m still remembering, along with him – me – och, the other me out there. But I remember the alarm, an’ I remember the smoke, now you’ve made it.”

“Alright, let’s say I believe you...” Jamie opened his mouth to argue, but Zoe held up her hand, quietening him. “Having two of you in one place is incredibly dangerous. What happens if you meet yourself?”

“Aye, I know, I know. But maybe I can remember what happens, an’ we’ll know what we’re supposed tae do.”

Zoe was peering out the door again. She was quiet for a long moment, her eyes wide and almost unblinking. “Jamie?” she said softly.

“Aye?”

“You were right.” She turned to look him up and down, seeming a little dazed. “I’ve just seen you on the other side of that room out there.”

“What was I doing?”

“You’re with someone.”

Jamie grinned, craning his neck to see past her. “Polly. I think I can see her.” His heart clenched at the sight, and he fought back the urge to run over and hug her. This Polly had not left the Doctor behind yet, he told himself sternly. She would not have missed him in the same way that he missed her. “What’s happenin’ now?”

“You’re just standing there, looking around -”

“Thinkin’ about going after the Doctor. Ben’s about tae come back from lookin’ around – aye, here he comes.” Jamie laughed, feeling a little light-headed. “I know, I was there.”

“Well, you did ask.”

“Aye, but I didnae remember until ye said it.”

“What happened next?”

Throwing his hands up in frustration, Jamie squinted into the smoke over her shoulder. “I dinnae remember! It’s all a bit mixed up. It feels a wee bit like I’m – like I’m rememberin’ lots of things at once, but only one thing’s gonnae happen.”

“But you must remember _something_ helpful.”

Jamie scrunched his face, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to pin down the memories crowding his mind. As soon as he settled on one, it seemed to whisk itself away, like when the Doctor had shown him soap chasing dye-colours away in a bowl of milk. “I think someone came to arrest us,” he said eventually. “A guard.”

“Well, it doesn’t look like anyone’s coming,” Zoe pointed out. “The Doctor did a good job of leading the guards away.”

She was right, Jamie realised a moment later. The room outside was silent, the smoke slowly settling and thinning out, and no guards were creeping out of the murky edges of the room to arrest his past self. He had been sure a guard would come quickly – but now that memory too felt uncertain, almost dreamlike, as if it was changing even as he tried to grasp it. He tapped impatiently on the helmet that still hung loosely from his hand, then froze, pressing his finger against the visor with more deliberate force. “Zoe – the guard, it’s you!”

“What?” Zoe stared at him. “ _Me_? But I couldn’t arrest anyone -”

“No one’s comin’,” Jamie insisted. “I cannae meet the other me, ye said so yourself. An’ anyway, it was your idea tae get all dressed up like this.”

Zoe’s disbelief faded into condescending irritation again, and she put her hands on her hips. Annoyance settled into Jamie’s stomach, though it quickly curdled into stubbornness, and he crossed his arms in return. “If I meet your past self now, how will you meet me for the first time on the Wheel?”

“’Cause of that.” Jamie nodded to her helmet. “I’m not gonnae see your face.”

-

**_August 10th, 3092, 13:12_ **

-

“I think he went this way.” Catching Polly’s hand, Jamie pulled her towards the faint outline of a door, just starting to become visible through the thinning smoke.

“But we didn’t see him go through here!” Polly argued. “We’re already lost as it is, Jamie. Don’t you think it would be better to stay where the Doctor thinks we are?”

“Unless he’s in trouble,” Jamie said. He glanced towards Ben in search of support, but Ben simply shrugged helplessly. “We cannae be sure he doesnae need us.”

Polly hesitated, but eventually let him lead her across the room, picking their way around the display cabinets carefully. Many of them were upended or broken, shoved aside in the guards’ clumsy determination to catch their quarry, their contents tangled and scattered across the floor. The grey haze lying over the scene lent it the sense of some strange, desolate battlefield, littered with debris and left to rot.

“Halt!”

Jamie took a few deliberate steps before stopping and turning to face the guard, putting his hands up almost tiredly. “We’re no’ your thief,” he said, exchanging a weary glance with Ben and Polly.

“We’re just lost is all,” Ben added, throwing an innocent smile towards the guard.

“And I suppose this mess made itself, did it?” The guard drew her gun from its holster, gesturing with it towards the artefacts strewn across the floor.

“We didnae do that either,” Jamie protested. Eyeing her gun carefully, he stepped slowly in between her and the others, holding his hands up a little higher as he went. “That was your people.”

The guard snorted. “Do you honestly expect me to believe that?”

“But surely ye were there,” Jamie said, frowning at her. “Did ye not see it happen?”

The guard hesitated, her hands wavering, and Jamie sized her up, wondering if they could take her in a fight. She was small, but her uncertainty belied the quiet strength in the way she moved, and the gun in her hands tipped the odds firmly in her favour. They would have to get close enough to pull it away from her before they made their move. He stepped forwards, still holding his hands up, but the guard readjusted her grip on the gun, levelling it at him so the barrel pointed directly between his eyes. She had known what he was thinking, he realised bitterly, and the nervousness had vanished from her stance. They had lost any chance they might have had at an escape.

“Stay in front of me,” she ordered, nodding towards the door behind them. “Move!”

Putting his hands up resignedly, Jamie picked his way around the fallen cabinets again, exchanging a rueful grimace with Polly as he went. When he glanced over his shoulder, he saw that the guard’s gun was aimed squarely at his back, and he shuddered, the faint hopes and plans of an escape that had been forming in his mind slipping away. The guard was clearly scared, and he did not doubt that she would fire if she thought he was stepping out of line.

Half-free of the guard’s close scrutiny, Polly was busy glancing around the corridors they passed down, as if she was trying to map out their route. “We don’t seem to be going anywhere,” she whispered to Ben after a few minutes. “She’s led us in a loop twice now.”

“So?”

Polly shrugged. “Maybe she’s lost.”

“Lost?” Jamie echoed incredulously, leaning over towards them. “She’s a guard.”

“Maybe it’s her first day!”

“Quiet!” The guard’s voice was shaking now. “Keep moving.”

Jamie leant away from them again, tucking his hands into his belt and winking at Polly, who frowned back at him confusedly. The guard was ushering them along a long, narrow corridor, and Jamie took the opportunity of the corner to slip over next to Ben, nudging at him and gesturing between them. When they eventually drew up to a crossroads, he took in a deep breath, wondering if he was making a terrible mistake. But the guard was already hurrying them onwards, the opportunity quickly fading as they went.

“This is all your fault,” he blurted out, struggling to inject a note of anger into his voice.

“ _My_ fault?” Ben echoed incredulously.

“Aye!” Jamie nudged him, trying to make it seem like a shove. “It was your idea tae come here. An’ hers.” He jerked his head towards Polly, who was staring at him in confusion and outrage.

“My idea -” She spluttered, her eyes flashing. “It wasn’t _my_ idea, it was the -”

Ben tugged at her hand hard enough to quieten her. “It was your idea,” he said loudly, cutting off anything else she might have said. Jamie nodded along with him, silently begging for her to understand.

Sure enough, her eyes widened in realisation. “It wasn’t my idea,” she repeated. “It was your idea.”

“Ye -” Jamie dove at her, shoving her back against the wall. “Sorry,” he whispered, grinning, but Polly elbowed him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Gasping, he staggered away, fighting a smile when he caught a flash of alarm on Polly’s face. Ben waded into the fray, pretending to pull Polly away from him, but gave a mock-yelp of pain when she stepped on his foot.

The guard was looking between the three of them helplessly, her gun held loosely in her hand. Jamie’s heart leapt at the sight, and he seized Polly by the shoulders and whirled her backwards, bumping her into the guard so he could knock her off-balance and snatch the gun. Grabbing clumsily for each other’s hands, the three of them turned to run, skidding around the corner before bumping into a new arrival. Jamie fumbled to raise the gun, his head pounding from the scuffle, but he half-lowered it again in confusion when he recognised the Doctor standing before them.

“Is there a problem?” the Doctor asked mildly. His expression was carefully schooled, filled with a vague, disapproving interest, but amusement was sparking in his eyes. Polly shook her head, and Jamie and Ben followed her lead, trying to seem guilty. “Very well. I’ll take them from here,” he added to the guard, who had jogged up behind them.

She saluted awkwardly. “Thank you, sir,” she said, sounding rather strangled, before darting back the way they had come. The Doctor shook his head, sighing.

“Frightened as mice,” he murmured. “They’ve never had a security issue like this, I suppose. I would rather like to know who’s behind it, and – and _why_.”

“ _Doctor_.” Polly tapped at his shoulder insistently. “Don’t you think enough’s happened? Shouldn’t we be looking for a way out?”

“Oh.” The Doctor looked a little crestfallen. “Oh, I’m sure you’re right.” He glanced over his shoulder regretfully. “I had rather hoped – but I shouldn’t like to run into any more guards. I don’t know whether that trick will work twice, you know.”

-

**_August 10th, 3092, 13:42_ **

-

Pausing in his pacing, Jamie cast yet another glance towards the door, fighting back a cry of frustration when he saw that it was still stubbornly motionless. It seemed to have been hours since Zoe left – though it had surely been only a few minutes, he reminded himself sternly. But the walls of the small room were beginning to press in around him, and his hands were itching with the impulse to open he door and let fresher air inside. He had not heard a guard pass since the Doctor had led them away, and surely it was unlikely that they would return. But if he were to see his past self…

Before he could make up his mind, the door was shoved open violently, and a guard came rushing in. Startled, Jamie scrambled away, tensing himself and raising his fists, but the guard pulled her helmet off, and he realised it was Zoe. “Shh!” she hissed. “It’s only me.”

“Zoe!” Jamie breathed a slow, shaky sigh of relief. “I thought ye were never comin’ back.”

“And I thought you were about to tackle me,” Zoe replied drily. “Oddly enough, the other you was going to do the same thing.”

Even as he spoke, the memory of the incident was seeping back into Jamie’s mind, and he winced. “Sorry. But it’s no’ like I knew who ye were.”

Zoe wrinkled her nose, still scowling. “I suppose not. But given that you know me now – why did you smash up all those cases?”

“Eh?”

“The room out there is full of them. Some of those objects were priceless.”

She was looking up at him with complete earnestness, as if she truly believed that they had caused all the damage she had seen. “I – he – the other me told ye. It wasnae us, it was the guards.”

“You can tell me,” Zoe insisted. “Why did you do it?”

“We _didn’t_.”

“ _Hmph_.” She twisted around to peer through the crack between the door and the wall, casting sour glances at him over her shoulder every so often. “I understand why the other you would lie, but I don’t know why you’re lying now.”

“I’m not!”

“The guards wouldn’t destroy things in the museum’s own collection. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“But they did, I’m no’ - _och_.” Jamie rubbed his hand over his face, biting back the urge to scream at Zoe’s stubbornness. “What about the Doctor? Shouldn’t we be seein’ if he’s alright?”

“You don’t think he can look after himself?”

The surprise in Zoe’s voice made Jamie stare blankly at her for a moment. “Ye dinnae think he’ll get into as much trouble as he can?”

Zoe considered his words for a moment, then shrugged, tilting her head in admission. “True. But wouldn’t he be making for the exit too?”

“Hard tae tell.” Giving in to the desire to open the door, Jamie peered around the hazy room outside, then led Zoe out. “Come on. We’ve got tae start somewhere, or we’ll be waitin’ for him forever.”

They edged along the walls, keeping a careful eye out for guards, but Jamie was surprised when they found themselves alone. “Where are they all?” he murmured.

“Security briefing, I expect,” Zoe said. “Deciding what to do with us when they find us.” Jamie opened his mouth to reply, but Zoe shushed him, tilting her head up. “Watch out!”

Fresh mist began to pour from the vents above them, and they pressed their sleeves over their mouth. Jamie shook his head to clear it from the heavy press of the gas, but he could not help but be glad of the camouflage it offered. Experience told him that the Doctor had an uncanny knack for finding them even when he could not see where he was going, and he hoped that the guards had no such ability. But the thought of the Doctor stirred a memory from within the fog that had buried itself in his mind, and he grabbed Zoe’s sleeve, pulling her to a halt.

“We have tae go the other way,” he said urgently.

Zoe stared at him, bemused. “That’s where the other Doctor is,” she said. “We can’t let them see you, remember?”

“They have tae see me.” Zoe spluttered and tried to pull away from him, but he dragged her onwards determinedly. “An’ ye too.”

“But – Jamie -” At last, Zoe managed to snatch her wrist out of his grasp. “ _Why_?”

“Because I remember it!” Jamie exclaimed. “So it happened, so we have tae make it happen.” He took hold of her wrist again, and this time she made no effort to resist him. “Come on, we have tae catch up to them.”

Zoe took the lead as they wound their way through the corridors, her lips pursed as she retraced her steps. Every so often, she paused to glance over her shoulder at Jamie as if hoping he would ask her to turn back. He was careful to meet her questioning looks with steely determination each time. It was lucky enough that she had agreed to take him this far. The last thing he needed was to be pulled away when they were so close.

“I left them here,” Zoe said at last, drawing to an abrupt halt. Glancing around the unremarkable stretch of hallway, Jamie wondered how she could possibly recognise it. “But they’ll probably be halfway across the museum by now, Jamie.”

Jamie thought for a moment, digging into his hazy memory. “Where’s the nearest storeroom?” he said at last. “Somethin’ like what we were in before, but bigger. Like a library.”

“How would I know?” Zoe asked exasperatedly. “Anyway, you don’t even know it was us that caught you. Maybe someone else will come along.” She cast a pleading look towards him. “Come on, Jamie, let’s go and find the Doctor. This was too risky.”

“I _know_ it was us,” Jamie insisted. “Ye seem tae know everything else about this place, can’t ye figure out where that room might be?”

“I only know it because I saw plans for something similar, and it’s laid out on a relatively simple grid -” Zoe gritted her teeth, matching his defiant glare. “Oh, alright. It’s over that way.” She nodded towards the corridor on their left. “It should be two left turns and a right turn.” Jamie started down the corridor she had pointed out, already scanning the walls for a promising door despite her directions. “You might not thank me later,” she added warningly, jogging along after him. “What if it goes wrong and you recognise yourself? Or the real guards catch up with us?”

“We’ll just have tae be careful. An’ keep our helmets on.” Jamie quickened his pace, leaving Zoe to huff and hurry along faster. “Come on, we might miss them.” He reached a dead end, and pushed on the door before him, only to find that it was locked. “Och, how are we meant tae get in now?”

“Wrong door.” Zoe pushed open the door to their left. “What exactly is your plan?”

Shaking his head, Jamie ushered her in through the door. This storeroom was as full of mist as the one they had just left, but the few cases and chairs which loomed out of the haze seemed familiar, and he allowed himself to relax a little. As he peered across the room, he caught sight of four figures – three of them familiar, one of them apparently himself.

“We’ll never find our way out like this.” Hearing Polly’s voice again sent a pang through Jamie’s chest, and he clenched his fists, fingers digging into his palms hard enough to distract him from the ache of it. Zoe was watching him carefully, almost suspiciously, and he turned away from her a little, trying to ignore the burning feeling of her eyes on him. Pulling himself out of his thoughts, he saw that the Doctor was gesturing to the others, leading them out of the room, and the sight startled him. In his mind, something had made them stay a moment longer – but what?

Ducking from side to side to see through the fog, he reached out to prop himself up against the wall, and almost toppled over when his hand collided with the door. It slammed against the wall, jarring his arm and making his past self flinch away from the noise. The memory of what was about to happen flooded back into his mind, and he winced, grabbing for Zoe to pull himself up.

“Hey!” Realising she had shouted, Zoe clapped her hands over her mouth. “What do you think you’re doing?” she whispered, her quiet voice packed with anger.

“I’m sorry,” Jamie snapped back under his breath. “But it stopped them leaving, didn’t it?”

“You let them hear that we’re here! What if they come over?”

“That’s the guard who caught us!” Ben’s voice broke through their argument, silencing them. “Doctor, they’ve found us.”

“Look!” The past Jamie pointed through the fog towards Zoe’s shadow. “They’ve come in from another entrance!”

“Then we ought to leave.” The Doctor ushered the others ahead of him, pushing them out the closest door. As he went, he glanced back into the fog, all but leaping into the air when he saw Jamie’s silhouette alongside Zoe’s. “Oh – oh, my word, there’s more of them. Down here.” He slipped out of the room, dragging his friends along behind him.

Jamie let out a heavy sigh of relief as he watched them go. “I think that was everything that happened.” He sat down heavily on the nearest chair. “But that was important, tae send them – us – off that way.”

“Mm.” Zoe had folded her arms, and was staring down at him disapprovingly. “What if it had’ve gone wrong? We’re meddling with time here, Jamie. We can’t afford to make mistakes.”

“Aye.” Jamie crossed his arms, staring up at her in sullen determination. “So I dinnae see why ye thought we shouldn’t come here. We had tae make sure this happened, an’ they’re gone now. “We’re safe.”

Zoe opened her mouth to reply, but before she could summon some retort, she paused, leaning over to see past Jamie.

As they watched, breath frozen in their throats, the door creaked open.


	5. Chapter 4

-

**_August 10th, 3092, 14:11_ **

-

Peering through the thick mist, Jamie strained to make out the figure who had stepped through the door. Their shape was smudged and indistinct, dark enough to be one of the guards and moving slowly but steadily towards them. He pulled Zoe in front of him, and she struggled to free himself from his grip – but the newcomer was holding something familiar, and he froze, his fingers digging into her shoulders.

“Doctor?” he called, cursing the tremor in his voice. “Is that you?”

“Jamie! Zoe!” The Doctor rushed over, patting at their shoulders by way of greeting. “Thank goodness you’re alright – I thought I might find you here,” he added, winking at Jamie.

“Where’ve ye _been_?” Jamie exclaimed. “We thought ye must’ve been caught, I’ve been worried sick.”

“Oh, here and there,” the Doctor said airily. He waved the staff around as he spoke, and Jamie had to duck to avoid being hit with it. “Oh, ah – here.” Thrusting the staff towards Zoe, he glanced nervously over his shoulder. “The guards got a good look at me, and I suspect they’ll have alerted some of the secondary security systems to my body print by now. I mustn’t keep the staff.”

“Won’t they catch you?” Zoe said, her eyes wide with alarm. “And us, if we’re all together?”

“Well, if they do, they won’t find the staff on me,” the Doctor said cheerfully, flashing her an innocent smile. “So surely they’d just let me go.”

“They’d lock ye up for trespassing anyway, an’ ye know it,” Jamie protested. “Can’t we all escape together?”

The Doctor shook his head. “Too risky. They’re not looking for you yet. Better for you to get the staff safely back to the TARDIS.”

“I’ll no’ leave ye -”

“I know you won’t,” the Doctor said wearily. “And we don’t have time to argue, so you’re perfectly welcome to come back into the museum and mount a daring rescue. After you’ve put the staff in the TARDIS.”

Jamie pulled the Doctor aside, casting a dark look over his shoulder at Zoe. “Ye know she didnae want tae take it. Why give it to her?”

“Zoe’s more familiar with the building. If the two of you get separated, she’ll be able to find her way out more easily. And...” The Doctor shuffled his feet, dropping his voice. “I was rather hoping that this would be a lesson for her. You’ll need to keep an eye on her, of course.”

“Aye, I will.”

“Splendid.” Footsteps were echoing down the corridor outside. The Doctor pushed Jamie away, back towards Zoe. “You have to go.”

Jamie grabbed the Doctor’s hand, pulling him along with them for a few steps. “Ye can at least follow us out, ye dinnae have tae go all the way -”

“I’m going to let myself be caught.” Smoothing down his jacket and adjusting his tie, the Doctor tilted his chin up to stare down the door defiantly.

“Ye _can’t_ -”

“I’m going to.” The Doctor pushed him away again. “Go on, get the staff out of the museum!” Jamie glanced between the Doctor and Zoe for another moment, impossibly torn. “Go!”

Seizing Jamie’s sleeve, Zoe raced out of the room, diving down another corridor. She skidded to a halt, breathless and skittish, and poked her head around the corner. “They’ve caught him,” she said softly. “We’ll have to break him out.”

“Aye, but ye heard what he said. We have tae get the staff away from here before we rescue him.”

Glancing down at the staff, Zoe spoke the words he had been hoping desperately to avoid. “Can’t we just put it back?”

Jamie stared at her, struggling to cobble together some sort of answer. The guards were pounding on the door he had slammed shut behind them, scattering his thoughts, and he settled for pressing the staff more firmly into Zoe’s hands. “Take it to the TARDIS,” he said firmly. “I’ll meet ye there.”

“Jamie, what -”

The door crashed open. Taking in a deep breath, Jamie wheeled around, sprang into the corridor before the guards, and turned to run.

-

**_August 10th, 3092, 14:25_ **

-

“Look at all this stuff.” Ben stared incredulously out at the seemingly endless rows of cases as they passed by. “There must be thousands of things in here.”

“Millions, I should think,” the Doctor said quietly. “Count yourself lucky. They don’t let many people see what they keep in the storage rooms.”

“Why not?” Polly paused, peering at the scrolling screens that passed for labels on the nearest cabinet. “Aren’t people interested in it?”

“Oh, I should think so. Interested in having it back, I shouldn’t wonder. I suppose they don’t want to let people know exactly what they’re keeping in here.”

“Where did it all come from?” Jamie asked.

“Well, some of it came from Earth, of course.” The Doctor tapped his finger against his chin thoughtfully. “Relics of the development of space travel, that sort of thing. But most of it comes from the colonies of the human empire. One day, you’ll spread out across the galaxy, and send home bits and pieces of other planets. Rock samples, alien life, things owned by the people who lived there before you arrived. Sooner or later, it all ends up here.”

“So you think the thief could be an alien?” Polly’s eyes were wide with excitement. “Maybe they’ve come to take back something that belongs to them!”

“I don’t think that’s very likely,” The Doctor said gently. “The museum was placed right at the heart of the empire to keep it safe, as a sort of a – ah – sacred site for humanity’s history, quite far away from the outer colonies. Most of the items here belong to species on the fringes of the empire, or people who have been so drained that they couldn’t possibly hire a spaceship to get themselves here. No, I’m afraid it’s more likely to be some private collector, wanting a valuable item.”

“Oh.” Polly looked crestfallen. “Are the things here ever returned to their owners?”

“Most of them, yes. A few early protests and thefts start a movement that puts pressure on the museum.” The Doctor checked his watch, tapping at the side of it. “But that shouldn’t be for quite a while yet. Probably.”

“Och, that’s too bad,” Jamie said, grimacing. “We could’ve helped them.”

-

**_August 10th, 3092, 14:27_ **

-

The corridors were dark and deserted, stretching out in every direction. Heart pounding, Jamie jogged up and down passageways at random, trying to find a landmark amongst the endlessly repeating rooms. Each storeroom and vault was more unfamiliar than the last, and the labels on the cabinets set into the corridor walls were growing increasingly alien. When he did recognise a name, the burst of hope in his chest was quickly dispelled by his doubts. Had he seen the name on their way into the museum? Had his younger self seen it? Had he met the thing’s owners on some long-forgotten misadventure?

Finding himself at a crossroads, he paused, then turned right at random. The corridor before him was just as blank and featureless as all the others, and he sighed to himself, leaning over to prop himself up against the wall. His touch made the panel flicker into life, blue lights running up and down its surface. He sprang back, watching the wall slide apart to reveal a lift. The memory of the Doctor pressing his hand against the wall to call a lift sprung into his mind, and he frowned, searching the cabinet labels around him for anything that might be more obviously familiar.

The distant thud of footsteps and the rustling of a uniform made him freeze, his breath caught in his throat. _Zoe? Or one of the guards?_ They were fading away fast, but they were too hesitant to entirely convince him that he had simply heard a guard passing by. Jogging through the corridors again, he followed the sound, turning corner after corner in an effort to get closer. A twisted knot of worry in his stomach told him that he was even more lost than he had been before, that he had no way of knowing whether he was chasing Zoe, or even that he would find her, but he pressed on.

When at last he skidded around a corner and saw Zoe, his heart plummeted from his mouth to his stomach. She was still clad in the guard’s uniform, one hand loosely holding the staff and the other gripping the door of the case before her. Loose screws littered the floor around her, untouched since the Doctor had undone them.

“What are ye _doin’_?” he exclaimed. “We’ve got tae get out of here!”

Zoe looked up, her face setting into a scowl. “Don’t interfere, Jamie. I’m getting us out of here safely.”

“Safely?” Jamie wanted to scream, to take her by the shoulders and shake some sense into her, but he was frozen to the spot. “How is this gettin’ us out of here safely?”

“I’m putting the staff back. The system will let security know that everything is in place, which will distract the guards long enough for us to rescue the Doctor and get back to the TARDIS.”

“Aye, aye, I see.” When he took a step forward, Zoe swept the staff behind her back, her frown deepening. He held up his hands as if in surrender, slowly wandering a little closer. “An’ how are ye gonnae get the staff back afterwards?”

“What?”

“Well, we came here tae get the staff. What are ye gonnae say tae Tara? Are ye gonnae tell her that we changed our minds, and we didnae want tae help after all?”

Zoe shrugged. “It’s on display. They can come and see it whenever they want, and it’ll be better taken care of here.”

He would never be able to reason with her, Jamie realised. Whatever he said, Zoe was determined that replacing the staff was the right thing to do. Why the Doctor had given it to her he could not understand, but there was no time to speculate on his reasoning now. Instead he simply lunged at Zoe, reaching out for the staff, but she whisked it away, grabbing his wrist and twisting it with surprising strength. The shock of it made him cry out, snatching his arm away from her, and she gasped, stumbling backwards.

“I’m sorry, Jamie, I didn’t want to -”

Trying to take advantage of her hesitation, Jamie made another grab for the staff, but she turned away, leaving him to pitch over past her. “Just hand it over!” he cried. “Can’t ye just trust that the Doctor knows what he’s doing?”

“He doesn’t always know what’s best!” Zoe exclaimed. “He’s got it wrong this time.”

“Zoe, no -”

Before he could reach her, Zoe had slammed the staff into the case. As it touched the metal prongs, an alarm screeched into life, louder than any they had heard before. The sheer force of it made Jamie stagger backwards, clutching at his ears. Even Zoe seemed frightened, staring down at the case in horror. Jamie snatched the staff away again and took her arm, dragging her away from the case and down the corridor, but her gaze remained fixed behind them until they were around the corner and out of sight.

The sound of the alarm only seemed to grow louder as they ran, and Jamie drew to a halt almost at random. Taking Zoe’s shoulders, he shook her a little – more gently than he had been imagining before, but enough to pull her attention towards him. She stared up at him with wide, frightened eyes, tears threatening to spill across her cheeks, but her earlier determination kept Jamie from feeling entirely sorry for her.

“What have ye done?” he hissed. “What have ye _done_?”

-

**_August 10th, 3092, 14:43_ **

-

“Things seem quiet enough.” Polly’s confident words were betrayed by the tremor in her voice. “Do you think the thief escaped?”

“Possibly, possibly.” The Doctor frowned down at the panel he was examining, scratching at the edges with his fingers idly as if trying to prise it away from the wall. “But the museum is nine floors high. They could be anywhere.”

“What about us?” Jamie asked. “If the museum’s that bit, how are we ever gonnae find a way out?”

“We’ll find one with this, if I can ever manage to get it open.” Scrabbling at one corner, the Doctor managed to find a purchase. He tugged at it, his face screwed up with the effort, but was sent reeling back empty-handed. “There ought to be some sort of computer behind here. If I could access the internal data, we could find a map of the corridors...” He muttered something indistinct and irritable under his breath. “I really ought to find some better way of undoing screws, you know. It would save an awful lot of time.”

Reaching to his belt, Jamie handed the Doctor his knife, grinning at him with just a touch of smugness. The Doctor pulled a face at him in return, but took the knife eagerly, setting about levering the panel outwards. It tumbled to the floor with a resounding clatter, and Jamie, Ben, and Polly leapt back, grimacing at each other. But the Doctor seemed unconcerned, already tapping at the screen before him to switch between various maps of the museum.

“Ah – no, that’s only this level. I’m not so sure we could try the air vents trick again – certainly not with all that smoke still hanging around.” He scrolled rapidly through another few options, shaking his head at each one. “That’s the visitor map – air ducts – study rooms – ah! This ought to be the one.”

“Can ye see the exit?” Jamie asked eagerly, stepping up to peer at the map over the Doctor’s shoulder. Ben and Polly crowded up behind him, all three of them craning their necks to make out whatever the Doctor had seen. “is it near us?”

“Quite possibly. But I must -” The Doctor flapped his hands, shooing them away. “I must have some room.” He leant towards the screen to study it more closely, but was sent reeling back by the sudden screeching of an alarm. He pressed his fingers to his temples, squeezing his eyes shut against the noise. Jamie made as if to clutch at him – whether for support or in reassurance, he did not know – but he quickly resorted to clapping his own hands over his ears. Beside him, Ben and Polly were doing the same, their faces screwed up in discomfort.

“Did you set that off?” Ben shouted to the Doctor over the noise, but the Doctor simply shook his head wordlessly.

“Maybe someone’s stolen something else,” Jamie suggested. “It sounds like the alarms we heard before.”

“I think -” The Doctor forced his eyes open. “I think we may have overstayed our welcome, don’t you?”

“But what about the way out?” Cautiously elbowing the Doctor aside, Polly studied the screen before them. “We haven’t even found that yet.” Her expression deepened into a frown, and Jamie’s heart sunk in his chest.”

“What is it?” he asked. “What did ye see?”

Polly simply pointed towards the screen. Beneath her finger was a cluster of four blinking dots – and a much larger group of signals was heading towards them at an alarming speed.


	6. Chapter 5

-

**_August 10th, 3092, 14:48_ **

-

The ringing of the alarm echoed up and down the bare corridors, amplifying itself as it went until the building seemed to shake with it. Jamie could have sworn he saw a trickle of dust tumbling from the ceiling – but his hands were clapped over his ears, his eyes were half-shut against the noise, and the world around him seemed impossibly distant. Only Zoe seemed constant and real, still stunned into immobility, and he struggled to focus his thoughts on her. For all his efforts, it took him a moment to realise that her lips were moving, and another few seconds to make out what she was saying.

“I didn’t know what would happen.” Her voice was all but drowned out by the screeching sirens around them, but Jamie could tell that the words were tumbling out of her rapidly, her shock and anxiety crystallising in them and spinning away like snowflakes. “I thought if I put the staff back, then everything would be alright.”

“Maybe ye should’ve listened tae the Doctor an’ me.” Despite the fear in her eyes, Jamie’s mind was still boiling with frustration. “Ye always think ye know best, don’t ye?”

Zoe did not seem to have heard him. “There’s delicate items in here,” she continued, staring past him as if he was entirely invisible. “The cases aren’t enough to protect them from the sound waves. It’s as if they don’t care that the alarms could cause irreparable damage.”

Jamie moved his hands up to grip her shoulders with a gentleness that surprised even himself. She felt terrifyingly fragile, as if she would come to pieces in his grasp if he touched the right point with too much force. “Now do ye believe that it was the guards who smashed up those cases?”

The fright in her expression did not change, but he knew he had found that point. “I do,” she said, nodding shakily. “I believe you.”

“Aye, well.” He faltered, unsure what to do without her arguing with him. “Good. If they’ve been stealing these things, I’m no’ surprised that they dinnae really care for them.”

“You tried to tell me,” she was murmuring. “And I wouldn’t believe you.”

“It’s alright. Ye thought ye were doin’ the right thing.” Jamie reached out to prise the staff from her grip. She yielded more easily than he had expected, and he pulled the staff away from her with only a little force. Her stare remained as blank and wide-eyed as before, and she hardly seemed to comprehend what he had done. “Come on. We’d best be going.”

He took her now-empty hand in his own, and the jolt of movement shook her out of her daze. Blinking, she drew her eyes back into sharp focus. “Do you think they’ve captured the Doctor?”

-

**_August 10th, 3092, 14:59_ **

-

“Hey, this must be the case that was robbed!” Ben jogged up to the open case, holding his hands over the space between the brackets where the object had once lain. “Wonder what it was.”

“A Xi’aani staff,” the Doctor said thoughtfully. “Quite a unique item.”

Jamie stared at him in amazement. “How did ye work that out?”

“It says so on the label.” The Doctor tapped at a small screen beside the case, and Jamie snorted, folding his arms and throwing him a wry smile. “We ought to be careful, you know. If a security guard were to walk through the room outside and see us – well, I don’t suppose they’d be very sympathetic to our account of things.” He gave a disapproving huff. “These security types, they’re all the same.”

“You’ve got to admit, it does look a little bit suspicious,” Polly pointed out. “We broke into the back rooms, and here we are, at the scene of the crime.”

“Well – quite – but it’s hardly as if we have the staff here with us.”

“Maybe they’d think we’d hidden it somewhere -”

“Where could he hide somethin’ in a place like this?”

“Oh, I don’t know. In a storage cupboard, maybe.”

“Oi, you lot!” Ben’s voice cut across theirs, quietening the three of them. He stood in front of the case, half-bent over as if to conceal himself from view. “Come and take a look at this.”

They crowded around him, craning their necks to see out through the window. Ben was pointing towards a cluster of people, clumped around the doorway and half-concealed by cases. As they watched, a guard circled the group, barking out an order and sending the motley crowd into a scramble to form a line. Another guard stepped into view, brandishing some strange device in their hand.

“What are they doing?” Polly asked incredulously. “They can’t all be thieves, can they?” She leant in closer. “Didn’t we pass that alien on the way in? The tall blue one?”

“I doubt they’re the thieves,” the Doctor said softly. “I rather suspect they’re rounding up everyone in the museum to record them. They must’ve got a body print.” Ben, Polly, and Jamie stared at him in equal confusion. “They’ll scan everyone who they can find. If it matches the thief, they’ll arrest them – if not, they’ll compare that to the security data for the people who entered the museum, and find out who’s missing. If the thief came in through the main entrance, their picture will be on wanted posters across the empire within a few days. There’ll be no escape for them.”

“I hope they get away.” Polly’s eyes were wide, though whether with fear or excitement Jamie could not tell. “I’d hate to think what they’d do to the thief if they found them.”

“Aren’t we all forgetting something?” Ben interrupted. “Doc, you said they’d be figuring out who was missing. Who else isn’t there?”

Jamie snapped his fingers in realisation. “We’re meant tae be out there!”

“Oh, my word.” The Doctor scurried away from the case, turning to pace around the corridor in a tight circle. He tapped his fingers together nervously as he walked, drumming out an agitated rhythm. “I had hoped that we could simply find a service door and go back the way we came, but I don’t suppose that would work now.”

“Well, what are we gonnae do?”

“Stay here,” the Doctor said brusquely. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“But where are ye goin’?”

“To find a safe way out of here. There must be some sort of back entrance we can use.”

Jamie opened his mouth to ask something, anything else, but the Doctor had darted around the corner and out of sight before he could even think about what he might say. When he turned to Ben and Polly, they simply shrugged, looking as helpless as he felt.

“Aye, well.” He shrugged, leaning back against the wall with false nonchalance. “’Spose we’ll just wait an’ see whether he comes back.”

-

**_August 10th, 3092, 15:11_ **

-

Leaning around the corner, Jamie glanced up and down the corridor, scanning the way ahead for guards. Despite his efforts to hold her back, Zoe leant around him to get a better view. The sound of their ragged breathing and pounding hearts drowned out the silence, and Jamie hesitated for a long moment. The cold tingling of nervousness in his spine filled his mind with images of guards leaping out the moment they stepped across the junction between corridors.

“We’re probably more suspicious like this, you know,” Zoe pointed out.

“What do ye mean?”

She gestured down at herself. “Well, we’re still dressed as guards, but we’re sneaking around. If we walked more confidently, I doubt that anyone would stop us.”

“I dunno about that.”

“Why not? It’s quite simple.”

“’Cause you’re too small for your uniform. Anyone could see that it’s no’ made for ye.”

Zoe folded her arms. “Your past self didn’t notice.”

“Och – och, hush ye.” She swiped at him, and he turned back to the corridor before them to hide his satisfaction at having made her smile. Before he could push himself into stepping out across the void before them, a figure stumbled into the corridor adjacent to theirs, glancing around with an uncertainty that Jamie was sure matched his own. Although the newcomer had their back to him, their rumpled appearance and frantic hand motions could have belonged to only one person – and sure enough, as they turned to wander further down the corridor, he recognised the Doctor’s face.

Instinct told him to dash down the corridor towards the Doctor, to ask if he had found the way out, to clutch at him for some sense of security. But Zoe’s firm grip on his arm held him back, and he turned to stare at her quizzically, wondering what had come over her now. “Listen,” she whispered. “Someone’s coming.” Jamie paused, his head tilted to one side, but the thumping of his heart was still too loud for him to hear much beyond the Doctor’s ever-nearing footsteps. He shrugged, frowning at Zoe, who scowled back at him. “Quite a few people, I’d say. Can’t you hear them?”

It took another moment for him to catch a hint of the sound Zoe was talking about. More footsteps were echoing around them – four or five guards, he guessed, heading their way fast. Another shudder passed down his spine, more sinister than the first. He opened his mouth to call out to the Doctor and warn him, but Zoe clapped her hand over his mouth, dragging him away from the corner.

“They’ll hear us!” she whispered frantically.

“But he’ll get caught!”

“We’ll just have to rescue him, then.”

“How? We dinnae have -” Glancing down at himself despairingly, Jamie fell silent. “We’re still dressed as guards,” he said at last, grinning at Zoe. “All we’ve got tae do is tell them we’re meant tae take him somewhere, an’ we can get him away from there.” He pulled Zoe back to the corner. “Come on, we’d better keep an eye on him.”

As they watched, the Doctor paused halfway down the corridor, turning his head from side to side as if trying to pinpoint where the guards were coming from. One of them rounded the corner behind him, followed by a trail of others, all pointing towards the Doctor and rushing towards him in unison. Jamie felt Zoe tense beside him, and he pushed her backwards, trying to block her from leaping out to protect the Doctor even as he fought down the same impulse in himself. The expression on the Doctor’s face was one of almost comical surprise, and he twisted his hands together nervously, clearly stumbling over his hasty explanations. One of the guards reached up to take him roughly by the shoulder as if to lead him away, and Jamie nodded towards Zoe. She reached up to press a button on the collar of her uniform, sliding a tinted shield over her face, and Jamie made as if to copy her, but she stilled his hands.

“Someone has to look after the staff,” she murmured.

“It’s too dangerous, ye stay here an’ I’ll go -”

“I’ll be fine! I know how to talk to these people.” Before he could argue, she had set off down the corridor, her shoulders set with an almost military rigidity. “I see you’ve apprehended the intruder,” she was saying. “I’ll take him from here.”

A ripple of confusion and dismay passed amongst the guards, their tight formation beginning to break as they leant in to mutter to each other. “I think we ought to take him to the security centre ourselves, ma’am,” one of them put in. “He’ll be safer with all of us.”

Although Zoe’s back was turned and her face hidden from him, Jamie could feel the mock-disbelief rolling off her in waves. “My orders came from this section’s curators. I don’t think it would be a good idea to disappoint them, do you?”

The guards dissolved into another hasty conference, frowning and casting confused glances over to Zoe. She simply tapped her foot impatiently, turning her head away and pretending not to notice their stares. As the discussion dragged on, Jamie’s attention slid from Zoe to the Doctor. To his surprise, he was backing away from the altercation, pressing himself against the wall as if hoping some compartment would open up and transport him away. Zoe threw him a few pointed looks, but he did not seem to notice, instead keeping his gaze fixed on the guards. For a moment, Jamie wondered if he would take advantage of the situation and make a run for it – but the guards were straightening out into their formation again, and any chance of escape the Doctor might have had was gone.

“If you’re sure you can handle him, you’d better take him straight to the curators,” the leader said.

Zoe snorted at his words, looking the Doctor up and down. “I wouldn’t say he’s exactly threatening, would you?” The Doctor folded his arms, and Jamie could imagine his offended expression with perfect clarity. “I think I can manage.” The guards gave a mumble of assent, but remained milling around in front of her awkwardly. She watched them for a long moment, waiting for them to wander away, but eventually sighed and stepped closer to them. “I suppose you want me to recommend you for catching them. Here, I’ll record your names for the curators.”

Sighing, Jamie leant away from the corner to slump against the wall. The guards had shuffled up to Zoe, eagerly listing off their names and ranks and identification numbers, as docile as lambs in her hands. Unbidden, his fingers curled around the staff almost protectively, and he glanced over at it. In all the chaos he had hardly had time to examine it, but now he could see the beauty in the delicate carvings that spiderwebbed across its surface, and the pale stones set into the wooden blades at either end. _No wonder the museum wanted it_ , he thought – _and that Tara’s people want it back_.

The pounding of footsteps and a few scattered shouts drew him out of his examination of the staff, and he peeked back around the corridor, his heart pounding. For a moment he feared that Zoe had been caught out, and that she had been captured alongside the Doctor. But when he managed to peer past the guards, he saw the Doctor standing further down the corridor, with Zoe behind him, twisting his arm to hold him still.

“I think I’d better take him to the curators as soon as possible, don’t you?” Gripping the Doctor firmly by the elbow, Zoe set off along the corridor towards Jamie. “Quite the troublemaker, this one.”

The guards watched her go for a moment, seemingly transfixed in fascination, and Zoe let out a visible sigh of relief when they eventually left her to march the Doctor down the corridor. Pressing himself against the wall, Jamie tilted his head back and closed his eyes, trying to force his aching shoulder muscles to relax. With Zoe back on their side and the Doctor rescued, getting the staff out of the museum seemed a much simpler task.

“It was clever of you to pretend to run away from me,” Zoe was saying quietly. “I doubt they suspected anything.”

“What on earth do you mean?”

Jamie frowned. The confusion in the Doctor’s voice seemed genuine, though he could not fathom why.

“Doctor -”

“How do you know my name?”

His confusion _was_ genuine, Jamie realised – and there could only be one reason for it.

There was a rustling, as if Zoe had gone to remove her helmet but the same suspicion had stayed her hand. “It’s me. We came to rescue you.”

“I can assure you, young lady, I’ve never met you before in my life.”

_Just our luck_ , Jamie thought. _We’ve got the wrong Doctor_.

-

**_August 10th, 3092, 15:27_ **

-

“I still don’t think this is a good idea.”

“It’s the best idea we have, Ben.”

“What if the Doctor comes back to where we were and we’re not there? Then we’ll all be looking for each other.”

“Do ye seriously think the Doctor could go for this long without getting intae trouble?” Jamie interrupted. “The guards have probably found him by now.”

“Alright, you’ve got a point there, mate,” Ben admitted. “But how are we going to find him in all this lot?”

Polly began to reply, but Jamie quickly shushed her. “Listen!”

The distant sound of shouting was drifting through the corridors towards them, and they glanced at each other, realising in unison that one of the voices was the Doctor’s. His words were almost muffled enough to be indistinct, but they were clearly interspersed with cries of alarm – and once, a yelp of pain.

“They _have_ got him!” Polly exclaimed.

“Aye, an’ he can’t be far away,” Jamie added. The noise was echoing strangely through the building, and he twisted from side to side, trying to work out where it was coming from – but Polly was already striding off down the corridor, and he and Ben could do nothing but jog after her.

“We’ve got to surprise him,” she was saying confidently. “I doubt we’ll have them outnumbered -”

“Or outgunned,” Ben put in.

“But they won’t be expecting us. We have to grab the Doctor and run for it.”

“Can’t we grab one of the guards too?” Jamie asked. “We could get them tae tell us the way out.”

Polly shook her head. “Too risky. We’ve got to hope the Doctor’s already figured out where to go.”

The Doctor’s insistent demands to be let go were growing steadily louder, and Jamie’s confidence was growing along with them. But something was itching at the back of his mind, drawing him to a halt. “What if it’s a trap?”

Polly turned around to face him incredulously. “Why would it be a trap?”

“They dinnae seem tae be movin’,” Jamie said. “What if they knew we’d come tae rescue him, an’ they’re – lurin’ us out here, or somethin’?”

“Jamie -”

“Somethin’ here feels wrong. That’s all I’m sayin’.”

Polly bit her lip, her face full of turmoil. “Wouldn’t the Doctor have figured that out and stayed quiet?”

Jamie went to bite back a reply, but they were interrupted by Ben jogging back towards them. “I’ve seen them,” he said breathlessly. “There’s only one guard with the Doctor. We can take them on easily.” He glanced between them expectantly, frowning when Jamie cast a pointed look at Polly. “What are you waiting for?”

“We’ll jut have to be careful,” Polly said at last. “We can’t just leave him there,” she added. “Trap or no trap.”

“ _Trap_?” Ben echoed.

Jamie huffed out a sigh. “Aye, you’re right. But don’t say I didn’t warn ye.”

They crept along the corridor after Ben, edging their way towards the corner. Jamie winced with every step, half-expecting guards to leap out at them from the walls, but the place was filled with nothing but an eerie silence. When he peeked around the corner, the sight that met his eyes made his heart clench with anxiety. Just as Ben had said, the Doctor was not surrounded by a party of guards, but was being harried by a single, small figure who was arguing with him with impressive determination. He was sure that the Doctor could outrun her – perhaps even overpower her if necessary – but the pair of them were simply standing there, seemingly too caught up in shouting at each other to notice.

“See?” Jamie hissed to Ben and Polly. “There’s somethin’ else goin’ on here.”

“We’ll never get another chance like this one,” Polly argued. “That guard can’t fight us all off. We’ll be in and out of there before she has a chance to call for backup.”

“I still think -”

Ben hushed them both, and they fell silent, shooting mutinous glances at each other. “You’re squabbling like a pair of kids,” he said. “Maybe you’ve both got a point. But if we’re fast enough they won’t catch us.”

“I hope not,” Jamie said darkly. “Look, I’ll go first an’ make sure the guard doesnae try anything. Ye two can grab the Doctor an’ get him out of there.”

He pushed himself ahead of them without waiting for a reply, glancing up and down the corridor for hidden guards, security cameras, any sign that the scene before him was not all that it seemed. But he hesitated for a moment too long, and the guard turned in the midst of her argument with the Doctor to face directly towards him. Despite the dark visor covering her eyes, he knew that they were staring straight at each other, and she froze, rocking her weight onto her back foot. They watched each other for a long moment, each twitching with the effort of anticipating the other’s first move until the tension of it was boiling in Jamie’s veins.

He leapt forwards, arms outstretched to grab her and hold her still, but she stepped smoothly out of his way, almost sending him crashing into the wall. To his surprise, she did not press her advantage, simply standing back and letting him shake his head to reorient himself. Behind her, Ben and Polly were attempting to pull the Doctor away, but she did not seem to notice. Jamie sprang towards her again, twisting to the side as she tried to dodge again and managing to catch her arm. She struggled against him with surprising strength, and he drew back his fist to strike her in the stomach and wind her, but he found himself strangely reluctant to hit her. This time, his moment of weakness did not fail to escape her notice. She slammed her hand into his arm, then pinched him on the shoulder, making him yelp and loosen his grip enough for her to wrench herself free. He expected her to shout for help, to grasp at her radio, but instead she turned and ran, throwing one final glance at him over her shoulder before vanishing around the corner.

The strangeness of the whole business left him stunned, staring after her as if trying to will himself into following. A twinge of recognition was tugging at him, and he realised with a start that she had been the guard who had caught them earlier. But the others were pushing past him, shouting for him to hurry up and get out of there, and he wrenched himself away. The sickening feeling of something being terribly wrong faded as they went, though he could not entirely shake the prickling sense of being watched.

“Did you find where the exit is?” Polly asked anxiously as they drew to a halt.

The Doctor was puffing and spluttering, whisking his handkerchief out of his pocket to mop at his brow. “Yes, yes,” he managed at last. “But – it’s, ah – back the other way.”

Ben groaned. “You’ve got to be joking.”

-

**_August 10th, 3092, 15:43_ **

-

Zoe jogged around the corner, pulling her helmet off to reveal her deep-set scowl. Struggling to muster up a tired grin, Jamie yelped in surprise when she lashed out at his middle, making him wheeze and drop his helmet with a clatter.

“Did you have to grab me so hard?” Her voice was light, but a small undercurrent of resentment ran through it. When she pulled up the sleeve of her uniform, Jamie realised that a soft ring of bruises was already flowering around her wrist. “I got off lucky the first time the other you tackled me.”

“I didnae know it was you,” Jamie protested. “I was hardly gonnae recognise ye. An’ anyway -” He rolled his shoulder, wincing as if he could feel a ghost of pain from his past self. “Ye didnae exactly go easy on me yourself.”

They stared at each other for a moment in mutual playful reproach before dissolving into laugher, muffling their voices with their sleeves. Zoe forced out a few words between her giggles. “Of course – we got the – wrong Doctor.”

“Aye,” Jamie choked out. “An’ the way ye just – stood there an’ argued with him. We didnae know what was – goin’ on.”

“You really ought to be more careful, you know.” The sound of another voice behind them made them shriek with alarm rather than laughter, clutching at each other and wheeling around to see the Doctor – _their_ Doctor – picking up the staff.

“Doctor!” Jamie exclaimed, all but leaping into his arms in excitement. Zoe was hardly far behind, beaming at him. “We thought we’d lost ye!”

“I’m quite alright.” The Doctor turned the staff over in his hands, casting an appraising eye over Zoe, who bit her lip. “I’m very glad to see that you’ve changed your mind, Zoe, dear.” His voice was kindly, but a little smug, as if he had known exactly what would happen all along.

Zoe shrugged, her cheeks faintly red. “I doubt they’ll miss it,” was all she said.

Embarrassment was rolling off her in waves, and Jamie shuffled over to half-stand in between her and the Doctor. “Did ye find the way out?” he asked.

“Not this time,” the Doctor said. “I’d already done it.”

Jamie gaped at him. “Then what was the point of ye -” He was hushed by the Doctor, and folded his arms, his face setting into a frown. But the Doctor simply pushed past them, watching the junction of corridors ahead of them carefully. “What are ye waitin’ for?”

“For us, of course.” He sounded surprised, as if he had expected Jamie to have figured out what he was talking about. “All we have to do is wait for ourselves to go past, then follow along behind.”

Understanding burst into Jamie’s mind, and he snapped his fingers, staring at the Doctor. “’Cause we’ve already found our way out of here.”

“Exactly!”

“Can one of you explain what you’re talking about?” Zoe was looking between them bemusedly. “How can we follow ourselves?”

“Ah – well – not you, Zoe, but Jamie and I -” Flapping his hands to shush Jamie and Zoe, the Doctor pressed himself back against the wall, watching four people hurry down the corridor out of the corner of his eye. A flash of disturbance wracked Jamie at the sight of himself, the worry that his past self felt knotting in his own stomach. “Quickly, now,” the Doctor was saying. “Come along.”

Pressing one hand to his forehead to block out the dizziness, Jamie stumbled after him. What would happen if his past self happened to turn around and meet his eyes? The thought made him shudder, and he reached up to fix his helmet back into place before remembering he had left it discarded on the ground when Zoe returned. He studied the Doctor, trying to figure out whether he felt the same discomfort at being so close to himself. But he was explaining the situation to Zoe, apparently unconcerned, as if this sort of thing happened all the time.

They trotted down a dusty old set of stairs, turned a corner, and burst out through a door and into the sunlight. Jamie could have sunk down on his knees in relief at being out from beneath the shade of the museum, but he kept himself moving, following along behind the Doctor and Zoe. The figures of their past selves were already vanishing around the corner, and the memory of the moment crowded into his mind as if he was walking with them, hurrying back to the visitors’ ship-park. Just as they slipped out of sight, his past self turned to stare straight at him, and he stared back, frozen by the shock of it.

“Hey, Doctor?” he murmured, his voice suddenly, inexplicably hoarse.

“Mm?”

“I think he just saw me – I mean – I just saw me.”

“Oh.”

“Is that bad? I don’t remember that happening.”

The Doctor was quiet for a long moment, tapping his finger against his lips. “Time is rather changeable, you know. Perhaps you didn’t see yourself before, but you have now.”

“I dinnae understand.”

“That’s quite alright.” The Doctor grinned, his eyes glinting with mischief, and he gave the staff a shake as if congratulating it on their escape. “I’m sure it won’t cause any long-term damage. Probably.”


	7. Epilogue

-

**_August 10th, 3092, 15:58_ **

-

“Now – if I’m right -” The Doctor shoved his way through the bushes, all but disappearing from view behind the leaves. “Ah! The visitors’ ship-park.”

The others pushed their way out behind him, grumbling their discomfort as branches sprang back into their faces. They emerged blinking into the bright, tidy space on the other side, all four of them covered in stray leaves and twigs, sticky from sap and their clothes pulled into disarray.

“Won’t we look suspicious?” Jamie asked, nodding towards the steady stream of people heading out of the museum and back towards their own vehicles. “None of them look like they’ve been wanderin’ around in the bushes.”

“I’m sure none of them will notice us,” the Doctor said confidently. “They’ll all be grumbling about the museum closing early, or gossiping about what happened.” A pair of gangly blue aliens strolled past them as he spoke, inclining their heads politely but with an air of disapproval at their dishevelled appearances. “Ah – good afternoon.”

Ben barely managed to turn his disbelieving snort into a cough. “None of them will notice us, right, Doc?”

“Well -” The Doctor clutched at his lapels, looking a little flustered. “Well, it won’t matter, so long as we get to the TARDIS.”

“It’s a shame, really,” Polly said as they hurried across the ship-park. “I’d have liked to stay in the museum longer. We didn’t get a chance to have a proper look around.”

“Aye, I wanted tae see more of it,” Jamie put in. “Do ye think we’ll ever come back?”

“Well, you’ll have to ask the TARDIS nicely,” the Doctor said. “But I’m sure we’ll be back, sooner or later.”

-

**_August 10th, 3092, 16:02_ **

-

“Here – here we are.” Slamming the TARDIS doors shut behind him, the Doctor leant back against them, pressing his hand to his chest as he caught his breath. “Zoe, put the staff on the chair, won’t you?” He stumbled over to the console, flicking on the scanner to study the loading bay around them. A party of guards was spilling out of the museum, jogging over to circle around the TARDIS and tap at it experimentally. “It rather seems like they got wind of us at last.” A smirk flickered across the Doctor’s face, and he hovered his hand over a lever on the console, watching the guards carefully. “Perhaps we ought to give them a surprise.”

“What’s going to happen now?” Zoe asked. “To the staff, I mean.”

Jamie frowned. “Aren’t we gonnae take it back to Tara’s people? If we ever get there,” he added, grinning.

“It’s quite alright,” the Doctor said hastily. “I’ve had a good long word with the TARDIS and she’s promised to behave herself.”

“After that,” Zoe interrupted. “Will they look after it?”

“Of course they will. It’s their staff.” The Doctor nodded towards the scanner, then pulled the lever, and the TARDIS began to let out its familiar whine. The guards backed away from it, clearly murmuring amongst themselves, a few of them grasping their guns more tightly. Jamie caught only a brief glimpse of them shouting and pointing as the TARDIS faded away from the museum, but the sight made him grin all the same.

“Ye won’t go gettin’ us caught up in stealin’ things again, will ye?” he asked. “Only that was a wee bit more difficult than I thought it’d be.”

The Doctor laughed. “Well, I wouldn’t like to make any promises. But I do believe I’ve had enough of that museum for a long time.”


End file.
